a 3-year-old is dead. police say they know who killed the child but the suspect remains on the run. what police did just minutes ago to try to put the suspect behind bars. and cleanup could take a while after this truck got stuck under an overpass. coming up, we'll tell you how to avoid this mess. and good morning, and welcome to news 4 midday. i'm barbara harrison.

this morning the fbi is joining prince george's county police in trying to solve the murder of a 3-year-old girl. they're nearly doubling the reward to find the man. tracee wilkins joins us live in landover, maryland, with more on the new effort. tracee, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. now that the fbi is involved, the reward has increased from $25,000 to $45,000, and it has also expanded the search area as they look for devon wallace. now, the billboards will be strategically placed. these are the areas police and the fbi believe wallace may be to avoid being locked up. on august 10th, the 3-year-old was shot and killed while playing in the home of a relative in landover. police believe wallace shot the outside of that home in retaliation after an argument he had with someone else inside. while police were able to arrest and charge a friend who they say

gave wallace the gun and helped him leave the scene, wallace is still on the loose. >> we now have a federal arrest warrant for davon wallace. wallace is wanted to unlawful flight to avoid prosecution in the murder of 3-year-old kanij acha bib. this allows the fbi to do everything we can to help the prince george's county police department in this effort. we also want to let the public know that we're offering $20,000 for anyone who has information that leads to the arrest of wallace. >> reporter: now, the chief said that he has never had a case where it's this difficult to find their suspect. he is convinced that wallace is getting help and that someone is helping him to avoid arrest. he's saying that whoever is doing that, they're looking at federal charges for aiding and abetting, very serious charges with long-term penalties. reporting live in landover, i'm tracee wilkins, news 4. >> thank you, tracee. and right now you should not

try to drive northbound on rock creek parkway, here's why. take a look. this tractor-trailer got stuck trying to drive under the freeway. the road is closed there and police are calling the issue an extended event. we're not sure exactly when the road will reopen. you can use k street or pennsylvania avenue to get to the parkway instead. and we're learning this house fire that killed an elderly woman in rockville may not have been an accident. in about two hours the woman's son will be in court. he is accused of killing his mother and setting her house on fire. the incident still has neighbors talking. megan mcgrath joins us live on irish street with reaction. megan. >> reporter: well, barbara, yesterday neighbors had sympathy for hanni halen. he lost his mother in an early morning fire that he himself had to escape the smoke and the flame. late last night came word that things were not as they seemed.

at first it seemed like a tragic accident. an elderly woman overcome by smoke in her bedroom. her adult son able to escape. but late last night, police charged the son, 57-year-old hani haleem with first-degree murder. police say he stabbed his mother to death and then set the house on fire. police say he confessed to the crime. >> it's really shocking. it's really shocking. i was feeling sympathy for him and his family, but i hope he goes to jail forever. >> lovely family. it's just awful. i had no idea. >> reporter: this morning investigators returned to the home on iris street to gather evidence. the house now boarded up is a crime scene. a neighbor saw haleem in front

of the burning house. he figured he was upset about the fire and his mother who was trapped inside. >> he was shirtless, just running from the house. >> reporter: nothing seemed unusual? >> exactly. i felt really bad for him because i know his mom is there. >> reporter: as he faces his first court appearance, neighbors continue to grapple with the bizarre turn of events. >> dying in a fire, i thought it was pretty bad. but now knowing that her son was the one who killed her, that's really shocking. >> reporter: and there's been quite a bit of activity here at the house. investigators are expected to be here collecting evidence for most of the day and perhaps even into saturday. now, as for haleem, he is police custody and is due in court later today at 1:00. megan mcgrath, news 4. barbara, back to you. right now mark segraves is

at d.c. superior court where mayor vincent gray's former driver is expected to plead guilty to conspiracy. prosecutors say mark long drove gray to multiple secret meetings during gray's campaign in 2010. he's also accused of illegally picking up cash in his car. mayor gray has not been charged with anything. we're expecting to learn more from court documents today. follow mark on twitter to learn more on the plea as soon as it happens. and turning to the weather now, sunny skies on a steamy friday morning out there. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein joins us with his first midday forecast for this friday. tom. >> there is a live view from the storm team 4 city camera. we have been in the run of days here over the last several days where it's been really pretty much the hottest run of weather we've had so far this summer here in early september. there is another view of our sky, live view from the storm team 4 tower camera looking toward the west. there is summer heat and

humidity on this september 5th. now 83 at reagan national. dew point is a steamy 72. humidity at 70% almost and the wind coming from the south is continuing to bring in the humidity. it's going to be with us here. now, temperatures to our west are hovering in the low 80s. loudoun county, prince william and fauquier county. fairfax county and montgomery and prince george's now low 80s. low 80s right around the chesapeake bay as well. not much really out in the mountains. many locations, shenandoah valley out there are in the low to mid-80s. martinsburg 85 degrees already. a look at when we're going to finally get a break from this heat and humidity in just a few minutes, barbara. >> thank you, tom. new reaction this morning from close friends of bob and maureen mcdonnell. many are still in shock over the couple's conviction in their corruption trial. >> everybody is devastated. they're in disbelief. >> reporter: our affiliate in richmond was at the mcdonnells'

home after the verdict came down. a friend of the family, who only wanted to be identified as terry, says the mcdonnells are good people and the jury got it wrong. >> he's a good man and bob will rise again. i have friends who are attorneys, judges, and they have all said to me bob must have done something to upset someone in the federal government, because this jury would be hard pressed to find any corruption. >> reporter: terry also says she believes the former governor was willing to open up about his troubled marriage only because he thought it would prove his innocence. the jury clearly felt that prosecutors made the stronger case. the former governor was convicted on 11 of 13 counts, including corruption and bribery charged. his wife, maureen, was found guilty on nine of 13 counts. this all stems from the acceptance of gifts for political favors. back in december, the couple could have avoided jail time if bob mcdonnell had pleaded guilty

to just one count of bank fraud. and we're getting new reaction from the jurors who handed down those convictions. one spoke to "the washington post." she told "the post," quote, it was a tough decision but it was not a hard decision. she then said, quote, it was tough to see his family go through that, but when it came down to brass tacks, we knew the decision we had to make, close quote. the sentencing phase now begins. it's scheduled for january 6th of next year. the mcdonnells could face decades in prison but many experts do not believe they will get the full sentence. there's so much to this verdict, we have put a lot of the analysis on our website. the news 4 i-team has a recap of the bombshells that may have won the case for the prosecution on nbcwashington.com. and right now she's being remembered for her rapid-fire jokes and edgy humor. coming up, how people are honoring the life and death of joan rivers. plus, back in the united

states, the latest american doctor to contract ebola in west africa. how his case is now being treated. st

right now joan rivers' family is finalizing arrangements for her funeral this sunday. rip joan rivers has been

trending on twitter going on 22 hours now. joan rivers said she would never retire. she passed away at 81 years old. according to the hollywood reporter, sales of her books are now skyrocketing. one of the sales up an amazing 70,000%. lots of comedians and celebrities gave heart-felt statements remembering rivers including her "fashion police" co-host kelly osborn. jimmy fallon also gave rivers a special tribute. >> we had her on our very first "tonight show" when i took over. i'm lucky to say that i got to work with her and have our on our "tonight show." i was just so blessed to do that. she came out and she came over to me and she started crying, she gave me a kiss. it was really emotional. and really nice. >> there's the moment now jimmy mentioned right there where rivers gives him a kiss. this was the first time she had appeared on "the tonight show"

in more than 20 years. she was one of a parade of stars to pay up on a so-called bet that fallon would never get to be the host of "tonight." right now we are waiting to hear from president obama. he's expected to hold a news conference from wales. we'll bring you that live coverage. tom, tell us what the weather will be today. >> it is hot and humid and we have hazy skies around the region right now. temperatures are already climbing into the 80s. a look at when we're going to get a break from this heat and humidity. that's coming over the weekend. i'll have that for you coming up in just a couple of minutes. st

a third ebola infected american has made it safely to the u.s. to begin treatment. dr. rick sacra's plane landed this morning and he was transported by ambulance to the nebraska medical center in omaha. it's one of a few facilities in this country with equipment and trained staff to treat diseases like ebola. sacra has been in isolation in liberia since falling ill. he will not receive that experimental drug, though, that was given to the other two americans who are now cured because supplies of that drug have run out. right now ukraine leaders and pro-russian rebels say they have signed a cease-fire deal. the deal takes effect at 11:00. this comes after world leaders at the nato summit agreed to

create a rapid response force to address the threat of aggression from russia. the force will include several thousand land troops ready to deploy within just a few days. congress intends to get more information on the obaadministr against isis. secretary of state john kerry will testify at a hearing of the house foreign affairs committee later this month. president obama has been catching criticism for a week after stating that his administration didn't have a strategy yet for dealing with isis in syria. the white house says the u.s. would not rule out boots on the ground in syria in an effort to cripple or destroy the group. and we're going to hear more from the president in just a few minutes. he's expected to hold a news conference in wales at 11:30 this morning. you can also watch an exclusive interview on "meet the press" with chuck todd this sunday morning at 10:30 right after "news 4 today." for more on that news conference, we are joined by mark murray, nbc's senior political editor. good morning, mark. >> good morning, barbara. >> so what do you expect the

president to have to say from wales this morning? >> he's got a lot to say. obviously the news has come out of ukraine on this cease-fire. he believes that's going to occur, what's going on there, and of course dealing with the strategy against isis in syria. it's important to know it was just a week ago in which obama did say i don't have a strategy yet in syria when it comes to isis and that is true. one of the challenges this administration has been having is putting together a strategy that is very complex. it continues to change, this threat from isis is a very real threat but it also is something that's not easy to solve. so how do you kind of solve it in a world in which you're in a society that is demanding immediate actions and immediate answers. so the administration is continuing to try to figure its way out of there. they're being very deliberate, oftentimes the deliberation and caution is a wise strategy. the administration is getting a lot of flak for not having an immediate answer.

>> the president is having problems here at job. >> the jobs numbers that came out, 142,000 jobs created in august, the unemployment rate stopping at 6.1%. yeah, 142,000 is as much as we've seen in past months where the numbers have been over 200,000 but to say that 142,000 is disappointing, it shows you how far we've come from a couple years ago, if not four or five years ago, when nearly $150,000. everybody says, oh, man, that's kind of disappointing. overall when you look at the average over the last six or seven months, it's been pretty good and actually at a stronger pace than it's been in the last five or six years. >> i want to change subjects a bit here. bob mcdonnell verdict, what was the most surprising thing that you think came out of that. >> as a political reporter and someone who covered his gubernatorial win and covered him being a potential vice presidential candidate and somebody who was in the mix to

run in 2016, i have to say just a stunning fall from grace. you cover virginia politics, you just know how big of a star he was. even when the scandal occurred, his approval rating still around 55%, he was very popular. just a huge fall from grace. just kind of a reminder about politics, it can change so quickly. >> and this serves notice on other politicians out there, i suppose. all right, have a great weekend. see you next week. for more from mark and the rest of the nbc news political team, check out first read on nbcnews.com. getting around the district could be tough this weekend. coming up, the road closures you will want to know about. plus, the medical breakthrough that could be critical for children born with birth defects or people who have been in a terrible accident. first, here's a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com.

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you can run, ride and swim in the nation's triathlon in d.c. this sunday. however, don't try driving near the mall. the 14th street bridge as well as parts of rock creek parkway, independence avenue and ohio drive are going to be shut down. the triathlon will begin at 7:00 on sunday morning. take a look at this, our video from last year. you can run a shorter course this year if you're not interested in the full one. registration is open through the start of the event. and now to what could be a

major medical breakthrough. for the first time doctors are able to turn stem cells from body fat into living cartilage. what does that mean? well, it means doctors are able to grow ears and noses in a lab and maybe more. dr. steven hopping is here this morning to talk about what this means for children born with birth defects and people who have had some traumatic injuries and maybe even other things. explain how this works. >> well, this is, again, another revolutionary breakthrough that we're seeing, another great advance in plastic surgery coming out of london this time. so what they are doing now is for children who have micotia, born without one ear, they are taking stem cells. where are they getting it from? the fast of the abdomen. it's easy to harvest the fast. >> what do they use as a -- >> a model. that's a very good question.

computer generated biofilm that is just exactly like the patient's other ear, okay. then they implant the stem cells. the stem cells grow on this template in the laboratory. then they are transferred -- they transfer it to the side of the child's ear. the template dissolves and you're left with this cartilage mold of an exact replica of the child's ear. >> has this actually been done now or is this hypothetical? >> no, they're actually doing it. they're growing it in the lab. they're able to do that. now how many times they have actually implanted this in children successfully, i think they have just started to do this now. >> what have they done for deformities like this in the past? >> well, there are procedures that plastic surgeons can do, but they involve risks and other scars. you have to take a rib, sometimes a few ribs to create a mold. and again, this tends to be not an exact replica. or you can do a plastic ear. here's some examples of the

traditional things. so we're able to improve this, but it requires multiple surgeries. this will make it a one-stage procedure using the stem cell 340e mold and achieve a better result. >> that's great news. how about using this cartilage for other things, like cartilage that gets -- that you lose from running in your hip or your knee. do you think that there will be something -- >> sure, i think there are going to be great applications for this for adults, for joints. they're already injecting patient's stem cells into joints to try to help regenerate cartilage. all this is possible. bones, bones that have been lost from cancer, from trauma, they can create bones. and again, these are -- the importanthing is these are the patient's own tissues so you don't have to worry about the body rejecting them as you might artificial tissues. >> well, that's good news. keep us informed. we love to know what's coming. >> it's really exciting and the future is -- >> is now. >> it is now. well put, barbara. >> thanks so much, dr. hopping. and right now hundreds of

people are getting some life-changing help. coming up, the free dental help being done today. plus, it's hot and humid again today, but big changes are coming for the weekend. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein will be back with a look ahead. and an art project gone wrong. the trouble a woman got into for this cardboard license plate. w

right now espn crews are converging on a school in our area. centreville is a public school, gonzaga a private school. students have spent the week making banners an we expect to see a lot of spirit at both of those schools today. well, radar is looking pretty clear, isn't it, tom? do you think we'll have a dry football night? >> so far and a lot of other schools are playing football games tonight. we might have a few storms popping up here on radar later this afternoon, but tonight for friday night football under the friday night lights, we will have good football weather, although it's going to be pretty hot and humid to be playing, wearing those uniforms and those helmets and all the padding. if you're attending the came, comfortable in short sleeves. we'll be in the mid-80s between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. the games in maryland start at 6:30 usually. most the games in virginia start at 7:30, so those later games, it will be a little cooler anyway. by then still very humid, near

80 degrees. so a rather hot and humid night for friday night high school football. and as we take a look at the sky now, we have just a few clouds now beginning to pop up. they aren't producing any rain yet, but we could see some of those clouds getting a little bigger and developing into a few isolated storms later this afternoon. right now storm team 4 radar is all clear, as i showed you, and now 83 at reagan national. we're in the low 70s with our dew point, but our humidity is way up there. it's already around 70% and the temperatures around the bay, they're hot and humid too. easton is at 86 degrees already, pax river at 85. it feels more like midsummer heat and humidity, not early september. right now we're in the mid-80s shenandoah valley. no relief there. farther west, though, out in west virginia it is a bit cooler, low 80s there. the oakland the cool spot as usual at 73. post your pictures like this

woman did from karuna, sweden. this was a magnificent aurora. the sun has been very active, sending out bursts of energy and interacting with earth's magnetic field. you can connect with me and post your pics on instagram, facebook and twitter. love reading your comments and seeing your photos. later this afternoon we'll be up around the low 90s under a partly cloudy sky but very humid today. it will feel like upper 90s to about 100 and about a 30% chance of a storm popping up, a small chance. then tonight going out we'll be in the 80s through much of the evening. and by dawn on saturday, the mid-70s. during the day on saturday, hitting the mid-90s tomorrow. still very humid and a likelihood of afternoon storms on saturday into saturday evening. most of the storms should be finishing up by dawn sunday or even predawn sunday. then sunday afternoon turning less humid and a lot cooler.

highs just the low 80s on sunday afternoon. storm team 4 four-day forecast into monday, back to work and school. still beautiful, low humidity, 60s in the morning. afternoon highs around 80 degrees. small chance of an afternoon storm on monday. then tuesday, wednesday looking nice today. just a little more humid and a greater chance of maybe some storms for the end of the week. so we're still on track for that break from the high heat on sunday. sunday the best day of the weekend to get out and enjoy. >> okay, well, thank you. i know folks will be happy if it's dry tonight for that big game. well, right now you have a chance to get some free dental work done in prince george's county. that's because the doors for a free clinic are now open but it's not for long. molette green is live in college park with more on that. a lot of willing folks going to the dentist today? >> reporter: barbara, good morning. right now we're inside the xfinity center here at the university of maryland. behind me the dentists are

drilling away, filling cavities. this place is jammed, so much so that they kngt tacannot take an patients today. hundreds of people are here, lined up. some came before the sun hoping to get their smiles back. every person here has a story. so who are these faces? very first in line, paul from pasadena, maryland, who needs some teeth pulled. but insurance won't cover it. down the line, ann holmes is waving, happy about getting a free cleaning. >> it helps financially and it's convenient because i work here. >> reporter: bosario immigrated from peru. right now she has no insurance. that's why hundreds are in this line. in the blue hoodie, kenya of college park, a stay-at-home mom caring for two kids. just behind her, a 27-year-old who says he has no job and a free checkup can go far. some came from as far as brandy

wine, like sandre with her friend. insurance does not cover having some teeth pulled for her. simmy smith is right behind her. >> and now i'm going to see about getting set up with some type of health insurance. >> reporter: behind him, myrna. her job offers no dental coverage. and lonnie and his mom came early. he's not working right now because he's still recoveng from a near-death car accident. >> one broke off back here. >> reporter: inside the university of maryland xfinity center is a huge state-of-the-art dental clinic. >> yellow means we need an interpreter. >> reporter: for hundreds, this is a labor of love. this is a two-day clinic. it finishes up today at 5:00 and folks will be back in line really early tomorrow. it starts at 7:00, but you've got to get here very early to be

able to get inside and get a spot. a couple of thousand people will get dental care before this is all over and organizers say they will have to turn that many people away as well because demand is just so high because of the costs and number of uninsured and underinsured. we are live in college park. molette green, back to you. >> thank you, molette. news 4's richard jordan is following some breaking news for us at the live desk. >> d.c. mayor vincent gray's driver pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy just moments ago in d.c. superior court. mark long drove the mayor around to secret meetings during the 2010 campaign, that is that shadow campaign that federal prosecutors have been looking into for quite some time. sentencing for long is scheduled in october. he is cooperating with investigators looking into the scandal. however, we have not received any information as to what kind of details he is providing to investigators. that's the latest from the live desk. barbara. >> thanks, richard. a nationally recognized

scientist from gaithersburg has been found dead two weeks after disappearing. martin rogers' body was found near his abandoned car just off i-68 yesterday. that's about 20 minutes from cumberland, maryland, in allegheny county. rogers worked for the national institutes of health sciences for 15 years. on august 21st he told his wife that he was going to a meeting, but his co-workers said he never showed up. since then people had reported seeing him along a canal and outside cumberland. police say they don't believe foul play was involved. this afternoon a mother will be in a virginia courtroom facing charges that she tried to kidnap her own child. the custody dispute caused the fbi to order a plane to turn around. the plane had left dulles airport yesterday. the united airlines flight was headed to beijing when it was ordered to turn around several hours into the flight. the mother did not have consent to take the child out of the country. the child has now been reunited with the father. a massachusetts woman is in trouble for trying to pass off a

homemade license plate as the real thing. take a look at this. the 20-year-old driver made this license plate out of cardboard. she even tried to make it look like a real massachusetts plate, writing "spirit of america" on it. well, it didn't work. police pulled her over on tuesday morning. turns out she shouldn't have been driving in the first place. her license and registration were revoked weeks ago. she now faces this charges more than that charge and the stunt is going to mean that she won't be driving anywhere any time soon. a sidewalk sale is taking place at some of the district's biggest landmarks this weekend. plus, on tv tonight, a major campaign to find cures for some of this country's deadliest diseases. sta

this weekend part of the kennedy center will be transformed into a shopping center. the performing arts venue will host a joint museum, sidewalk sale. nearly a dozen d.c. area museums plan to participate in this. items such as books, jewelry and holiday merchandise will be available to buy. you can find this sidewalk sale at the kennedy center atrium tomorrow. it starts at 10:00 in the morning and runs until 5:00 p.m. and the event is free. maybe you're still waynie wp this morning after staying up late to watch the seahawks beat the packers. now it's time to look at the

redskins first game of the season. they kick off against the texans sound in houston. jason tells us what to watch for during the game. >> good morning, i'm jason pugh. with the redskins kicking off the season in just two days, everyone wants to get the bad taste of 3-13 out of their mouth from a year ago. so many things to watch for, like the chemistry between robert griffin iii and his new weapons on offense. plus we're all anxious to see jay gruden call his first regular season game as a head coach. >> i'm very excited about the season, i'm very nervous but i know that the staff that i hired and players that we have in the building, i know that it's not going to be about me, it's going to be about them and their success. we feel like we've got the players and the coaches in place here to put together a successful football team on the field. that's all we want. >> we just want to go out and x execute our game plan. the coaches put hours and hours of film work in and they expect us to execute it. it's like the super bowl for

everybody. everybody wants to get out there and play for real, play four quarters and win a game. >> the redskins and texans were the two worst teams in the entire nfl last year. houston only won two games, and get this, the texans are a three-point favorite against the skins, so still plenty of redskins' doubters out there this season. we'll see if the guys can prove them all wrong. >> of course the news 4 sports team has the redskins covered this sunday and every sunday. they'll have game highlights and postgame interviews on "redskins final." you can watch it right here on nbc 4. well, horton is back. the new dr. seuss book being released next week. plus the maryland dancer fighting cancer and inspiring others. stay with us.

our long-time white house correspondent, chuck todd, who is about to take over as moderator of "meet the press" this weekend, watching and listening with us. chuck, this has been evocative of some of the cold war era nato meetings in that the agenda has been full and the world is such a serious place right now. >> it is. a few years ago people were

wondering because russia was such a cooperative nation with the rest of the western world that the whole point of nato, which was about containing and dealing with the old soviet union, what was their new mission going to be. here we are at a nato summit now a few years later and the number one issue is containing and dealing with russia and with putin. that's what they have been dealing with. as you point out, it's dual issues here. on one hand we're going to hear about new sanctions against russia between european allies, nato allies and the united states. we'll hear about an attempt with that cease-fire that apparently has been signed between the ukraine and russia to see does that deescalate things a little bit and then there is the terrorist threat, the isis folks. we'll hear the president talk about every day he seems to have ramped things up a little bit more that seems to be pushing this idea that maybe the united states is close to declaring the type of war against isis that the united states declared against al qaeda a decade ago. >> chuck todd will be watching with us in our washington bureau. indeed, it was just yesterday

the obama administration at least opened the door to the idea, it would have been revolutionary just a few months back, of u.s. boots on the ground in syria. as you look at the region, and there are hot spots all over. also among the agenda items, chuck mentioned russia, ukraine and the isis threat. they have been talking about the ebola virus in africa spreading faster than the efforts to slow it down or indeed eradicate it. all these nations have a stake in the modern jet airplane world where air travel can lead to the spread of disease and public health officials have been justifiably worried about that. this meeting has been going on in wales for the better part of two, three days as you might imagine. a heavily secured bit of countryside, as all these leaders have gotten together. they have had several gatherings on actual warships that have

been brought into the area. the united kingdom unveiled its newest, most gleaming warship that hosted at least one event. the president has been seen, you see him there with holland of france. he has spent a lot of time with david cameron of the u.k., flanked there by cam eron and hs defense secretary. chuck, what do we think we can expect of substance, of consequence. this is mostly a chance for the president to take questions. the white house is usually going into one of these things hoping to get questions on some of the copy points as we see an assistant put the president's binder on the podium now. >> i think we'll hear the president talk about this idea that nato is going to have this fa small force essentially that they're going to station in eastern europe. ukraine is not part of nato but there are other eastern european

nations that are a part of nato and they are the ones that are most concerned about this russian aggression in the region. i'm talking about poland, estonia, where the president was a few days before showing up to wales. so that's a concrete action. sort of a ready strike force to provide some protection to those eastern european nations most concerned about russian aggression. you're going to hear about the new sanctions. but i think it's the rhetoric we hear on isis. what is he going to say. how much closer. you brought up what ben rhodes said, what he told chris jansing, not ruling out boots on the ground. i think we're seeing a full-fledged preparation for a larger scale operation than we thought. >> and here is the president. >> good afternoon. let me begin by thanking my great friend, prime minister cameron, and his entire team for hosting this nato summit and making it such a success. i want to thank the people of newport and cardi fcff and the

people of wales for welcoming me and my delegation so warmly. it's a great honor to be the first sitting u.s. president to visit wales. we've met at a time of transition and a time of testing. after more than a decade, nato's combat mission in afghanistan is coming to an end. russia's aggression against ukraine threatens our vision of a europe that is whole, free and at peace. in middle east, the terror threat from isil poses a growing danger. our alliance has summoned the will, the resources and the capabilities to meet all of these challenges. first and foremost, we have reaffirmed the central mission of the alliance. article 5 enshrines our solemn duty to each other. an armed attack against one shall be considered an attack against them all. this is a binding treaty

obligation. it is not negotiable. here in wales, we have left absolutely no doubt we will defend every ally. second, we agreed to be resolute in reassuring our allies in eastern europe. increase nato air patrols over the baltics will continue. rotations of additional forces throughout eastern europe for training and exercises will continue. naval patrols in the black sea will continue. and all 28 nato nations agreed to contribute to all of these measures for as long as necessary. third, to ensure that nato remains prepared for any contingency, we agreed to a new readiness action plan. the alliance will update its defense planning. we will create a new highly ready rapid response force that can be deployed on very short notice. we'll increase nato's presence in central and eastern europe with additional equipment,

training, exercises and troop rotations. and the $1 billion initiative that i announced in warsaw will be a strong and ongoing u.s. contribution to this plan. fourth, all 28 nato nations have pledged to increase their investment in defense and to move toward investing 2% of their gdp in our collective security. these resources will help nato invest in critical capabilities, including intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and missile defense. and this commitment makes clear that nato will not be complacent. our alliance will reverse the decline in defense spending and rise to meet the challenges that we face in the 21st century. fifth, our alliance is fully united in support of you crepe's sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and its right to defend itself. to back up this commitment, all 28 nato allies will now provide

security assistance to ukraine. this includes nonlethal support to the ukrainian military, like body armor, fuel and medical care for wounded ukrainian troops as well as assistance to help modernize ukrainian forces, including logistics, command and control. today the united states and europe are finalizing measures to dpen and broaden our sanctions across russia's financial, energy and defense sectors. at the same time, we strongly support president poroshenko's efforts to pursue a peaceful resolution to the conflict in his country. the cease-fire announced today can advance that goal, but only if there is follow-through on the ground. pro-russian separatists must keep their commitments and russia must stop its violations of ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

beyond europe we pay tribute to all those from the nations, including more than 2200 americans that have given their lives for our security in afghanistan. nato's combat mission ends in three months and we are prepared to transition to a new mission, focused on training, advising and assisting afghan security forces. both presidential candidates have pledged to sign the bilateral security agreement that would be the foundation of our continued cooperation. but as we all know the outcome of the recent election must be resolved, so we continue to urge the two presidential candidates to make the compromises that are necessary so afghans can move forward together and form a sovereign, united and democratic nation. finally, we reaffirmed that the door to nato membership remains open to nations that can meet our high standards. we agreed to expand the partnership that makes nato the hub of global security.

we're launching a new effort with our closest partners, including many that have served with us in afghanistan, to make sure our forces continue to operate together and will create a new initiative to help countries build their defense capabilities, starting with georgia, moldova, jordan and libya. i also leave here confident that nato allies and partners are prepared to join in a broad international effort to combat the threat posed by isil. already allies have joined us in iraq where we have stopped isil's advances. we have equipped our iraqi partners and helped them go on offense. nato has agreed to play a role in providing security and humanitarian assistance to those who are on the front lines. key nato allies stand ready to confront this terror threat through military, intelligence and law enforcement as well as diplomatic efforts. secretary kerry will now travel to the region to continue

building the broad-based coalition that will enable us to degrade and ultimately destroy isil. taken together, i think the progress we've achieved in wales makes it clear that our alliance will continue to do whatever is necessary to ensure our collective defense and to protect our citizens. so with that, let me take a few questions. i'll start with julie of the associated press. >> thank you, mr. president. i wanted to go back to the situation in ukraine. if this cease-fire does take effect and appears to be holding, would you and your european counterparts back away from these sanctions that you say you've prepared or do you feel that it's important to levy these sanctions regardless of the cease-fire agreement? and if i could go back to the rapid response force, can you say specifically what u.s. contributions will be in terms of troop numbers and equipment? is it beyond the agreement that you announced, the proposal you announced in warsaw? >> with respect to the cease-fire agreement, obviously we are hopeful, but based on

past experience also skeptical that in fact the separatists will follow through and the russians will stopiolating ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. so it has to be tested. and i know that the europeans are discussing at this point the final shape of their sanctions measures. it's my view that if you look at president poroshenko's plan, it is going to take some time to implement. and as a consequence, for us to move forward based on what is currently happening on the ground with sanctions, while acknowledging that if in fact the elements of the plan that has been signed are implemented, then those sanctions could be lifted is a more likely way for us to ensure that there's follow-through. but that's something that

obviously we'll consult closely with our european partners to determine. i do want to point out, though, that the only reason that we're seeing this cease-fire at this moment is because of both the sanctions that have already been applied and the threat of further sanctions, which are having a real impact on the russian economy and have isolated russia in a way that we have not seen in a very long time. the path for russia to rejoin the community of nations that respects international law is still there, and we encourage president putin to take it. but the unity and the firmness that we've seen in the transatlantic alliance in supporting ukraine and applying sanctions has been, i think, a testimony to how seriously people take the basic principle that big countries can't just

stomp on little countries or force them to change their policies and give up their sovereignty. so i'm very pleased with the kind of work that's been done throughout this crisis in ukraine and i think u.s. leadership has been critical throughout that process. with respect to the rapid response forces and the latest action plan that we have put forward, in warsaw i announced $1 billion in our initiative. a sizeable portion of that will be devoted to implementing various aspects of this readiness action plan. we've already increased obviously rotations of personnel in the baltic states, for example. we have the air policing, we have the